A cartography of the Aztec Gods Pantheon
“As far back as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be an Aztec jaguar warrior…”
South American and Meso-american civilizations have fascinated me since my childhood - when I would watch “The Mysterious Cities of Gold,” an early 80’s Japanese-French anime series. Solar-powered galleon ship, golden mechanical-condor, three kids exploring the New World at the beginning of Spanish Conquest and mini documentaries at the end of each episode. Who could ask for anything more?
(Footnote: Hoping for a sequel? Already done in 2012!)
But with 2021 marking the 500th year since the fall of Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire, it was time to switch from passion to understanding. Time to commemorate the complexity of the Aztec Pantheon, make the academic research more accessible to the general public and show how this civilization is still alive in our global culture.
Information is scattered, partial and sometimes contradictory but, thanks to the Pudding and its gifted team, we tried to embrace all of them to give you an overall view and the most extensive online map of the Aztec Pantheon. And we hope it will help you see this civilization with your inner child’s eyes, just like I did years ago.
Lost or tainted written sources
Until its rise as an academic field that strives for accuracy, history has been, by definition, written from a single point of view. Concerning our subject, we stumble upon a major difficulty: the Aztecs destroyed materials created by their rivals in order to justify the dominance of their empire. And Spanish conquerors and Christian missionaries brought about an even bigger annihilation, toppling Aztec society and rewriting their works.
Fortunately, some of these missionaries tried to collect as much information as they could, especially pioneer of anthropology Bernardino de Sahagún, while others, like Bartolomé de Las Casas, fought for indigenous rights. Their work is still precious to historians.
Complex iconography: the examples of Tezcatlipoca and Tlaltecuhtli
Aztec gods, in iconographic sources, are a little like Mr Potato Head dolls, with important symbolic accessories added to their form (feathers and jade for nobility or power, walking stick for merchants, skulls and bones for the underworld, claws or fangs for sacrificial dimension, etc.). This explains the difficulty in identifying gods, even by specialists, as these symbols can be emphasized for a particular worship or switched between deities, if they share similar fields of competence. Thus, gods can have multiple disguises and share them with others, like a never ending stream.
Below, you can look at two examples of Aztec gods, Tezcatlipoca and Tlaltecuhtli, and their combinations of symbols which permit identification.
Links
Fade by Domain unset
Going Further
Aztec - contextuals elements
General
- The daily life of the Aztecs:
- The Aztecs and The Aztec Empire:
- Les Aztèques : le peuple du cinquième Soleil:
Culture and Religion
- La religion mexica:
- Los oficios en la religion mexicana:
- Aztec thought and culture:
- Amoxaltepetl “Popol Vuh Azteca”:
- In the age of the Fifth Sun : Jacques Soustelle’s studies of Aztec religion:
- Aztec Mythology : The Influence of Aztec Mythology on Mexican Culture and History:
Warnings and problematic points
Primal Sources
- Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España:
- “El panteón en la Historia General de las cosas de la Nueva España de fray Bernardino de Sahagún”:
Iconographic analysis and identification
- Les dieux aztèques et leur iconographie:
- An Illustrated Dictionary of The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya:
- La pragmatique des dieux aztèques:
- Les règles de construction des dieux aztèques (Religions en Mésoamérique):